2018 Giro d’Italia: Stage 18 News, Notes and Quotes

German Maximilian Schachmann from Berlin scored a fifth victory for Quick-Step Floors at the Giro d’Italia, after Elia Viviani’s four bunch sprints, to equal last year’s tally (four by Fernando Gaviria and one by Bob Jungels). The first Maglia Bianca of the 101st edition of the Corsa Rosa (eighth in the opening time trial in Israel) took advantage of the first winning breakaway en route to Prato Nevoso.

The uphill finish proved brutal for race leader Simon Yates (Mitchelton – Scott) who lost contact with Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain – Merida) and Chris Froome (Team Sky), his closest rivals on GC. His lead over the defending champion is now reduced to 28 seconds.

Dazzling Performance

Schachmann put on a dazzling performance on the first summit finish of the third week and rode to a magnificent solo win on Pratonevoso – a 12.9km-long climb averaging 7.2% which featured in the race for just the third time in history – landing the 35th German success in the Corsa Rosa, one that came after a day that belonged to the breakaway, where Quick-Step Floors was represented by the second-year pro and Michael Mørkøv, one of the most experienced riders in the peloton.

“I feel truly amazing, it’s unbelievable to win a stage on my first Grand Tour,” said Schachmann. “This is a really hard Giro, which makes it even nicer to be on top on such a stage. Michael played a big part in this victory, he’s my roommate at this race and a great rider from whom I learned a lot, and what he did for me today underlines again our fantastic team spirit.”

After helping Quick-Step Floors write history as the first team in the modern era to score at least five stage victories in four consecutive Grand Tours, Max explained how much this win meant for him: “I was aware that my opponents were experienced, so I kept an eye on them and their moves, but knowing that my legs were strong gave me a lot of confidence and allowed me to play it cool in the final, and that’s why I opened my sprint so early. This race already was a great experience that I’ll never forget, helping Elia in the sprints and enjoying so many fantastic moments with my teammates, but winning a stage at my first Grand Tour presence is something special that serves as confirmation of all the hard work and progress I made since turning pro.”

Yates Retains Lead

Three-time stage winner Simon Yates retained the maglia rosa today, despite losing a handful of seconds atop Prato Nevoso.

For the first time this Giro, the break was allowed to contest the stage, while Yates fell behind late attacks in the final kilometer to lose 27 seconds and reduce his advantage to 28 seconds on Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb).

“I felt good until the final, I didn’t have great legs there at the end, so I did the best I could and that’s it,” Yates said after the stage. “I’m still in front and I’d prefer to be in front than behind, so it’s all good. If this is my worst day, this is a good thing.”

“The next couple of days suit me much better. Today was one effort in the final, but like the other stages we have had, tomorrow there are alot of passes and that will fatigue the other guys in the final which helps me alot more.

“Everyone is talking like Dumoulin is just a trial triallist, but he is a classy rider. I’m not surprised he attacked today and I’ve said all along we can’t write any of our rivals in the top ten off.”

The Numbers

• First Grand Tour for Maximilian Schachmann and first stage win. He’s the third German rider to win an uphill finish at the Giro d’Italia after Rudi Altig at Rocca di Cambio in 1966 and Udo Bölts at Pila in 1992, out of 35 German stage victories in the whole history of the Corsa Rosa.
• The first 18 stages of the 101st Giro d’Italia have been won by riders from 10 different nations: Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Great Britain and Slovenia.
• German riders have won 190 stages in all three Grand Tours: 35 at the Giro, 87 at the Tour de France, 68 at La Vuelta.
• Ruben Plaza was close to becoming the 93rd rider to win a stage in each of the Grand Tours after he won stage 20 to Alcala de Henares (ITT) in the La Vuelta in 2005, stage 16 to Gap in the 2015 Tour de France and stage 20 to Cercedilla in La Vuelta the same year.
• 28 seconds is the closest gap between the leader and the runner-up in the overall rankings after stage 18 since Denis Menchov led the 2009 Giro d’Italia by 26 seconds over Danilo Di Luca.